


Starblaster Game Night

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Role-Playing Game, references to Amnesty, references to Commitment, references to Dust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 16:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: It all started when Barry found a box of books and it rapidly grew into something the crew loved, a source of humor and entertainment no matter what was going on outside the ship.





	Starblaster Game Night

Barry had been the one that found the books. It had been particularly relaxed cycle. They’d found the Light early and had landed in a plane populous and advanced enough to be interesting. Lup and Barry had decided to take a day to head into one of the cities together for a bit of sightseeing. That was how Barry had found the little bookshop tucked into a sidestreet. When he found the box of books that advertised fun and adventure from the comfort of your own home, he’d immediately bought them with some of this plane’s odd currency. He spent his free evenings for the rest of that cycle reading through them and trying to figure out how to convince the rest of the crew to play too.

* * *

Davenport had flat refused. He had more than enough going on without some pretend dice adventure. Lucretia had been interested in the story aspects of it and asked if she could just watch, and maybe write down the stories they told. Lup had laughed, called her boyfriend a nerd, and said she would absolutely make Taako play. And that was how they ended up sitting in the communal lounge on the Starblaster with scrap paper and dice on the table, passing the books around while they decided who would run the game.

* * *

Merle had ended up grabbing a book called FATE and saying he would run first.

“Remember that world we went to with all that science shit? It’s going to be there, and you’re going to be superheroes.”

Barry nodded slowly, a character already forming in his head. Someone cool and smart and strong and fast and who could jump real good. But they should still be relatable and flawed. He’d work on that. Taako leaned forward across the table with his fingers steepled in front of him.

“Merle, my dude, I hope you’re prepared. Because cha’boy Taako is going to be playing a goddess.”

Magnus laughed and that and held up his own character sheet.

“I’m playing the most best and smartest woman ever. And she hits things real good too.”

* * *

Lup leaned over as she heard the boys debating how to approach a puzzle Merle had written. She nudged Lucretia, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, Luce? Do you find it at all weird that there’s a fucking Pan theme park in Merle’s game?”

Lucretia looked up from the sketch she was doing of Barry standing on his chair yelling at Magnus.

“Should it be? I mean, it’s Merle.”

Lup tilted her head to the side, contemplating that.

“Yeah, no, that’s legit.”

“He wields his great and terrible scythe-like bible!”

Magnus turned to look over at Taako, confusion on his face.

“Do you even know what a bible is, Taako?”

The elf grinned and rolled his dice between his fingers.

“Fuck, of course I do. You can’t live with Merle for decades and not know. _However,_ Kardala doesn’t. So, fuck you, Magnus, I’m _roleplaying._ ”

* * *

Barry took the reins for the next game, carefully setting up a world of danger and monsters and mysteries. He had a plan for two interwoven worlds and centuries of backstory. It was all carefully orchestrated. And now he was staring across the table at Merle, Magnus, and Taako.

“You’re playing _what_?”

Taako’s grin broadened.

“The fucking chosen one, bubbeleh. It’s super rad and he’s got all these powers and like a weapon and shit, but get this, he doesn’t want to.”

Lup threw a piece of popcorn at her brother.

“So you’re playing you in the morning?”

“Shut up, Lulu!”

Barry scrubbed at his face.

“Okay, I can work with that. Merle, what’re you playing?”

Merle looked at his character sheet again and then grinned slowly.

“My character doesn’t believe that any of this is fucking real. He runs like... a roadside museum but it’s all fake and shit.”

Lup and Taako exchanged a look just before Taako started laughing.

“Hey Lup, didn’t we used to watch that cartoon?”

“Fuck yeah, Grunkle Merle! Play to your strengths, my dude!”

Magnus was the last one to explain his character, a broad smile on his face the whole time.

“So yeah, she’s super cool and she’s got fire magic and she’s really punk and awesome and doesn’t know how to function around pretty girls and she’s got pet rabbit with a phd.”

Lucretia frowned just slightly, looking up from her sketches of this round of characters.

“Aside from the rabbit, didn’t you just describe Lup?”

Lup leaned in, getting dangerously close to Magnus.

“You trying to steal the brand there, Mags?”

* * *

“So he gets out this sword and it just like...starts talking out of this fucking mouth it’s got and-”

Magnus stopped, chip halfway to his mouth.

“Your sword has a mouth, Taako? What the hell?”

“Shut up and let me paint word pictures, Magnus!” Taako took a long sip of his drink and grinned. “Anyway, so the sword starts talking and it’s like ‘Soooo, you’re finally back, Duck.’”

The entire room went silent for a long moment, all eyes on Taako. Barry’s mouth was hanging open. Magnus was laughing so hard that he was laying on the table. It was Lup that finally broke the silence.

“What the fuck was that, bro-bro? That voice? What _was that?_ ”

Taako sat up straighter, looking affronted.

“It’s called a character voice, Lulu. You’d know that if any of these chucklefucks ever did one!”

* * *

The next cycle, Magnus volunteered to run the story. He said he had a great idea for a mystery detective sort of western thing and the rest of the boys went for it. They had snacks spread out on the table while they talked about the world and their characters. Magnus was going on and on about this territory he’d designed and about the werewolves and the vampires. When he was done, he looked at Taako first. They’d all developed a fear of the kinds of characters that Taako wrote. They seemed to have a power all their own.

“Okay, Taako, what are you playing this time?”

A slow smile crossed Taako’s face and he spread his character sheet out on the table.

“So, I’m playing like...a ghost. And get this. He’s a straight dude.”

Barry laughed and reached to shove Taako lightly.

“Think you can actually fake that? Taako, have you ever even met a straight man?”

Taako shrugged.

“Probably like twice? I don’t know, I don’t pay attention.”

When the laughing died down, Magnus turned to Merle.

“Okay, lay it on me, Merle.”

The cleric leaned back in his chair.

“So, I decided that this time, I wanted to play a magic user. So I’m playing a girl and she’s got all kinds of powerful wizardry and a little ghost buddy who lives in a creepy doll.”

Barry was mouthing the words ‘lives in a creepy doll’ when Magnus turned to him.

“What about you, Barold?”

“Me? Oh, I’m playing a dog who wants votes.”

That was when Lup walked in and dropped into her usual seat.

“Aw shit, you boys started without me. So, who’s playing me in this arc?”

Magnus, Taako, and Barry looked at each other and then shouted in unison.

“Merle!”


End file.
